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Aviation History
1933
1933 - 0761.PDF
FLIGHT, OCTOBER 12, 1933 8TH SESSION OF THE C.I.T.E.J.A. t ORD LONDONDERRY, Secretary of State for Air, welcomed on behaif ol H.M. Government, at the Foreign Office on Wednesday, October 4, the Comite International Technique d'Experts Juri- diques Aeriens, which held its Eighth Annual Session in London last week. This International Committee, on which over 30 countries are represented, is responsible for the progressive study of private aerial law as a whole and prepares draft Conventions for submission to the Inter national Conference on Private Aerial Law w^hich meets from time to time in different European capitals. Probably the most important Convention so far drawn up by the International Conference was the Warsaw Convention of 1929 dealing with the liability of carriers by air, which was implemented in this country by the Carriage by Air Act, 1932. Lord Londonderry said : "It is a great pleasure and a great honour to me, in my capacity as Secretary of State for Air, to welcome to London, on behalf of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, the Comite International Technique d'Experts Juridiques Aeriens. " I think it would be only appropriate at an inter national gathering of this kind that I should mention the outrage perpetrated at Vienna yesterday. I take this occasion to express our gratification at the fortunate escape of the Austrian Chancellor and our sincere wishes that his recovery will be speedy and complete. " This is the Eight Session of the Committee since its formation in 1926, and I am happy to meet so distinguished a gathering of the representatives of the nations on this, the first occasion upon which the Committee has visited London. His Majesty's Government have, from the first, recog nised the important character of the work with which the C.I.T.E.J.A. has been entrusted. We have always seen to it that we should be ably and adequately represented at the meetings of the Committee, and it is the earnest hope of the Government that your session in London will be as harmonious • and as successful as your previous annual meetings in other capital cities. " The discovery of the art of flying, and the employ ment of the aeroplane for personal and private commer cial purposes that has followed upon that discovery, have brought with them many new problems for which it is necessary to find a solution if humanity is to reap the full benefit of the new means of transport. It was early realised that, in dealing with an instru ment of such range as .the aeroplane, the questions of the legal rights and the legal responsibilities of private fliers and commercial flying undertakings were of an international rather than a national character. They could, therefore, best be dealt with by international understanding and agreement. The unification of private aerial law on a world -wide basis was recognised as the ideal condition, if this new instrument of social and commercial intercourse were to be developed to the best advantage, and an in dustry of such high promise for mankind were to avoid unnecessary hindrance to its natural expansion. The legal position of those engaged in flying would inevitably become extremely involved, and even chaotic, if a sub ject so essentially of general interest were left to be treated on nationalistic and individualistic lines, rather than on an international basis by the common endeavour of the recognised representatives of the nations in periodic conference. The first international Conference on the subject of Private Aerial Law was held at Paris in 1925, and was attended by the representatives of over 40 nations. The work of that Conference was mainly directed towards the preparation of an international convention on the liability car rie.rs by air. The experience of that year was so promising, and the necessity for the continuance of this method of approach to the subject of Private Aerial Law was so generally recognised, that, before it separated, the Conference itself prepared a list of subjects which it re- § s s More Landing Grounds DETAILS of three more landing grounds have just been included in the A.A. Register of Landing Grounds. The rst is at Bembridge, and is most conveniently situated thT V3 Whitecliffe Bay, where some of the best bathing in e Isle of Wight is to be obtained. The second is that commended as the first to be studied. Moreover, it re quested the French Government, which had issued the invitations to the first international gathering of this character, to take the preliminary steps necessary to im plement that most important and fruitful of its decisions, a resolution which recommended the establishment of a Committee of Experts charged to prepare a continuation of the work of the Conference. I have, I think, very justly termed that a most fruitful resolution, because it was in this manner, gentlemen, that the C.I.T.E.J.A. first came to life in 1926. I am happy to be able to report that from its earliest days it has been a most healthy and vigor ous child. The object which it has steadily pursued throughout its comparatively brief existence has been the progressive study of Private Aerial Law as a whole, with a view to drafting further conventions for the considera tion of future conferences. "The C.I.T.E.J.A. is thus essentially a preparatory organisation. In order to deal satisfactorily with its ex tensive and complicated subject, it lias, in its turn, en trusted each one of four commissions, which it has created as sub-committees of its own body, with certain duties of a preparatory character. They have the duty of examin ing certain aspects of Private Aerial Law, and of report ing to the full Committee from time to time as their study of particular items is complete. Upon the reports thus furnished, the full committee, after the most minute and careful consideration of the recommendations made by the Commissions, makes its own proposals, ultimately to be laid before the Conference when it is next considered that the time has arrived for its re-assembly. It will be seen, therefore, that the various questions are the subject of most elaborate study. Already, as a result of your labours, no fewer than three international conventions have been adopted by the Conference, the Warsaw Convention of 1929, which is a redraft of the convention originally drawn up by the Paris Conference on the subject of the liability of carriers by air ; and the two conventions which re sulted from the Rome Conference in May of this year, the one dealing with damage caused by aircraft to persons or property on the ground and containing provisions for compulsory insurance ; the other dealing with exemption of aircraft, within certain limits, from arrest or seizure in pursuit of private interest. These are highly technical subjects and somewhat difficult of approach for the lay man, but none the less of immense importance to the fly ing industry. " In addition, there are two further conventions already drafted by the C.I.T.E.J.A. which still await consideration by the Conference. " From all this it will be clear!v observed that your Committee is endowed with immense vitality, and has most energetically attacked the tasks for which it was called into being. You, however, who belong to the legal pro fession and who know the intricacies of the many legal difficulties which are entailed by the adoption and rati fication of international conventions of this character by individual governments, on behalf of their countries, will understand that ratification is necessarily a somewhat slow and prolonged process. The adoption of a convention means a careful examination by each government into its effect upon the national law and into the changes in that law thereby made necessary. It is not work of a character that can be hurried, and progress must, of necessity, be gradual. But, speaking on behalf of His Majesty's Govern ment in the United Kingdom, I may say that the Con vention of Warsaw has already been made part of our law, and I know that I may promise the most earnest consideration of the conventions adopted by the Conference at Rome, for which your invaluable Committee carried out such thorough and such skilful preparatory work, and a wholehearted support to you in all your labours. Our representatives will most willingly co-operate with the representatives of the other Governments upon the Com mittee, and I know that they will always be found ready to make their just and due contributions to your most valuable deliberations." adjoining the Lambert Arms, an hotel near Lewknor, Oxon, which always offers the warmest welcome to avia tors ; except when the field is down to grass, it is always available. The last of these new grounds is one at Lymington in Hants. It will have particular appeal to those who have yacht moorings in the Lymrngton River. 1025
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